Senior advocate KK Venugopal on Monday took over as the 15th attorney general of India. He takes charge of the post from Mukul Rohatgi, who had declined an offer to extend his term.

President Pranab Mukherjee had approved Venugopal’s appointment as the next AG on Friday. The 86-year-old had served as the additional solicitor general in former Prime Minister Morarji Desai’s government. He was appointed the amicus curiae in the 2G spectrum case and had also represented BJP leader LK Advani in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Rohatgi had represented the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court in the 2002 Gujarat riots case. He is the son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi.